The photos of "red fire ants" you see are probably wrong...

A bite from a red fire ant can cause severe pain and even blistering, and they are also notorious invasive species... Because the harm is so great, there are many articles introducing red fire ants, and people are gradually beginning to realize the existence and harm of red fire ants.

But the only drawback is that many popular science articles often confuse the name of the fire ant with the name of another red ant. Even some well-known media have made such mistakes. So, you may not have seen what the real fire ant looks like...

Note that the picture is not of red fire ants... | Screenshot from a media app

Today, we will reveal the true face of red fire ants and talk about several common "impostors".

01

Identifying red fire ants is easy even for laymen

For most non-professionals, ants are hard to tell apart from their color and size. In fact, for ordinary people, the easiest way to identify red fire ants is not to directly observe what they look like, but to look at their nests.

We know that most ground-dwelling ants are very low-key and will move the soil they dig out when digging their nests to a place far away from the hole to prevent other ants from using the soil as a clue to raid their nests. But the powerful red fire ants are not afraid of this and will directly pile up the "construction waste" at the door of their homes. Therefore, the soil particles they carry out are very finely piled up at the entrance of the nest, just like blowing bubbles on the earth.

The mounds of earth around the red fire ant nest, look carefully at the lower right corner | Photo provided by the author

If you find a sudden appearance of a mound of dirt in a lush grass or field, which even covers the lawn grass, and there are ants busy around it, it is most likely a nest of red fire ants, and the ants around it are naturally red fire ants. However, you must control the urge to "pop the bubble", otherwise it will provoke a group of red fire ants to attack you, which will be unpleasant.

If you poke it, it will explode on the spot for you to see | Photo provided by the author

Of course, if you want to challenge yourself to recognize them by appearance, that's fine too. Let's take a look at the distinctive features of red fire ants.

First of all, since they are called "red" fire ants, red must be their most distinctive feature. There are not many species of ants around us that are as bright red as their size. It's just that people have some individual differences in their perception of color, and the ambient light may not always be suitable for observation, so there is still a little error in identifying ants by body color.

Does this count as “black and red are also red”? | Photo provided by the author

It is not safe to identify red fire ants only by color. We can also observe their nodules. The so-called "nodule" is the part where the thorax and abdomen of the ant are connected. As shown in the picture, this is a very important part for identifying ants. The two nodules of red fire ants are very convex, and they look like two rosary beads when viewed from above.

Note where the arrows point. The nodules of red fire ants look like two rosary beads. Photo provided by the author

In addition, the red fire ants have two distinct body types, one large and one small. The large ones are mainly responsible for fighting-related work, while the small ones do some hard labor (be careful, the small workers are also fierce when fighting). After seeing the red fire ants many times and finding their temperament, it is not particularly difficult to recognize them. If you really can't tell them apart, just get stung yourself and feel it (don't imitate).

Comparison of two sizes of red fire ant workers | Photo provided by the author

02

The most easily mistaken for red fire ants is this

Among the "fake" ants that are mistaken for red fire ants, the yellow ant appears most frequently. Most of the photos of "red fire ants" used incorrectly on the Internet are of them. The color of the yellow ant is not as bright red as the red fire ant, at most it can be regarded as orange-yellow. Why are they mistaken for red fire ants?

This is a yellow fire ant, not a red fire ant | Photo provided by the author

Unlike the red fire ants, the yellow ants build their homes on trees. When you look up and see a ball of leaves hanging on the treetops, it is most likely the nest of the yellow ants. They use the silk threads that the larvae originally used to "cocoon themselves" as "cement" for their "palaces", wrapping the leaves into a big ball. Building a house on a tree does not mean that their territory is limited to the tree. These ants will often search for food and mark their territory in every corner they can explore, including the ground.

The nest of the yellow ant | Photo provided by the author

As the "local tyrant" in South China and Southwest China, the yellow macaque ant has a really crazy fighting consciousness. Even if a big guy like a human approaches, it will raise its front body and open its upper jaw to intimidate. If you dare to get closer, it will be very happy to bite you hard. Even though ants are not big, a bite from them is really painful.

A bite to a human would only scare them, but if an insect accidentally falls into their clutches, hehe, the end result would be torn into pieces on the spot, oh no, dozens of ants would be torn into pieces - the worker ants would bite the individual parts of the insect and pull them in all directions, and the worker ants have small hooks on their feet that can firmly fix the prey on the ground to prevent it from struggling and escaping. Such predation scenes often become a record of the so-called "red fire ants" doing their best, which may be one of the reasons why the yellow ant is often mistaken for the red fire ant.

03

These ants are not red fire ants.

In the north and some high-altitude areas in the southwest, there are some red ants living. They are all in the family of Formica, and the most common one should be the red forest ant. They also have a conspicuous red color and a fierce temperament. They will start fighting if they disagree with you. Whether you are a passerby who passes by for no reason or a curious child, the red forest ants will first show their big teeth to intimidate you. If you don't leave in time, they will stick their butts up and shoot formic acid. If it shoots into your eyes, it will definitely cause a burst of pain. Although they are red and fierce, it is unfair to mistake them for red fire ants, because most of them live in cold areas, unlike red fire ants that occupy the hot southern areas.

Chinese red forest ant | Photo provided by the author

There are many other species of ants that are mistaken for fire ants, such as the Nicobar camptostomes, which are also common in the south and also have a red appearance. However, they are very timid in comparison and will remain silent at the slightest sign of trouble. How can we expect them to cause any harm to humans? They are relatively low-key and you can hardly find their nests. Most of the other ants with red on their bodies are small and people hardly notice them.

Nicobar bow-backed ant | Photo provided by the author

Some ants in the family of ants are very fierce, and their stings can cause severe pain, so they are often misunderstood as dangerous ants. However, their body color is mostly black, just like "Zhang Fei", which is completely different from the red fire ants.

Agile flat-headed ant | Photo provided by the author

04

Ants may be small, but they can have a big impact

Many people hate ants, and the fear of red fire ants makes people want to kill them all. In fact, many ants are beneficial to humans and can also stabilize the ecological environment. For example, in Chinese agriculture, there is an ancient book "Nanfang Caomu Zhuang" which records that local people use yellow fire ants to control pests in citrus cultivation.

In addition, although red fire ants are very fierce, our "native ants" can limit the invasion of red fire ants to a certain extent. Because in a healthy natural environment, there is an invisible division of ant territories, which is formed by the continuous outward movement of ants from different nests. And many types of ants are very "advocating force". When they are outside, if they find ants of the same kind from other nests or ants with conflicting interests, they will either fight on the spot or go home to call for help to fight in groups...

Two yellow ants are fighting a big-toothed ant | Photo provided by the author

In short, in nature, ants compete fiercely, and new families want to develop and survive in the cracks. The same is true for red fire ants, no matter how strong they are. It is not easy for them to develop locally when they first arrive. But the reality is different from the theory after all, because people will intervene.

For example, after various construction projects, the nests of native ants are destroyed, and then the red fire ants can show their strength. Using drugs to eliminate red fire ants may be a solution, but it may also cause a disaster to native ants. Perhaps we can consider combining artificial elimination of red fire ants with supporting native ants to control ants with ants to achieve the goal of controlling the spread of red fire ants.

For most people, it is not easy to notice tiny ants, let alone identify what kind of ants they are. Is it really necessary to know these ants? The answer is yes. At the moment when red fire ants are rampant, early discovery of red fire ants and early reporting can nip hidden dangers in the bud. And when you encounter other ants (even if you are bitten by them), you will not panic too much. Moreover, the more you know, the more interesting you will find these tiny creatures like ants.

Author | Ye Zhengrong, science writer

Review | Huang Chengming, Researcher, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Editor | Ding Zong

Source: Science Refutes Rumors